[calittle07]

First off I have to mention that my puppy is a yo yo poo (3/4 yorkie, 1/4 min. poodle) so my situation might be a little different. Miley is 5 pounds and close to 6 months old now. She stays in her crate to sleep at night and holds it all night long. We did have problems with her pottying in there when we had it lined with a blanket, but no accidents since we took it out. We restrict her area to our kitchen and dining area and she doesn't have accidents. I'm a stay at home mom so I'm there with her most of the time to let her out, but there are occasions when I have appointments and errands to run that will keep me gone for up to 5 hours. She stays in her crate while I'm gone and does a great job holding it. Once I return, I don't acknowledge her and get excited until after I've let her out and she has never pottied out of excitement. I feed her on a twice a day schedule and let her out 15 minutes after eating and have had great success with it. That's not to say I don't worry and constantly keep my eye on her. I just always make sure that she stays in whatever room I am in if she isn't in the kitchen. So the main steps I have taken is giving treats outside when she goes, restrict her area, let her exercise and immediately use the potty, crate train her when I'm gone or simply need to get some cleaning done, don't get too excited, and take her out often. She has been wonderful and can't remember when she had her last accident!!!!!! Now I just have to work on getting her to let me know when she needs to go instead of me just letting her out all the time. I'm sure you will have success, just be persistent!